ERIC ED438442: AGORA--IV. The Low-Skilled on the European Labour Market: Prospects and Policy Options. Towards a Minimum Learning Platform (Thessaloniki, Greece, October 29-30, 1998). CEDEFOP Panorama.

80 Pages·2000·1.1 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
CE 079 750
ED 438 442
AGORA--IV. The Low-Skilled on the European Labour Market:
TITLE
Prospects and Policy Options. Towards a Minimum Learning
Platform (Thessaloniki, Greece, October 29-30, 1998).
CEDEFOP Panorama.
European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training,
INSTITUTION
Thessaloniki (Greece).
ISBN-92-828-8371-X
ISBN
2000-00-00
PUB DATE
79p.; For AGORA I, see ED 421 621, and, for AGORA II, see ED
NOTE
425 330. The Project Coordinator is Eric Fries Guggenheim.
CEDEFOP, P.O. Box 22427, 6R-55102, Thessaloniki, Greece
AVAILABLE FROM
(catalog no. HX-26-99-279-EN-C, Free). Web site:
http://www.cedefop.gr.
Proceedings (021)
Collected Works
PUB TYPE
MF01/PC04 Plus Postage.
EDRS PRICE
Basic Skills; Developed Nations; *Education Work
DESCRIPTORS
Relationship; *Educational Needs; Foreign Countries; *Job
Skills; Literacy; *Policy Formation; Postsecondary
Education; Secondary Education; *Vocational Education
*Europe
IDENTIFIERS
ABSTRACT
This booklet describes the proceedings of the fourth AGORA
conference in Greece conducted by a European team of the Newskills project.
(The Newskills project examines the employment prospects of those with a low
level of formal education in Europe, and aims to raise awareness of the
importance of a minimum learning platform after consultation with the social
partners.) In addition to an agenda of the meeting, an introduction, and a
summary paper, the following papers are included: "New Job Skill Needs and
the Low-Skilled: A Summary" (Eugenia Kazamaki Ottersten); "Developments in
Industrial Technology and Production: Competence Requirements and the
Platform Theory of On-the-Job Learning" (Gunnar Eliasson); "The Idea of a
Minimum Learning Platform?" (Hilary Steedman); "The Concept of a Minimum
Learning Platform: Educational Contents and Methods for Improving the
Low-Skilled" (Arthur Schneeberger); "Achieving a Minimum Learning Platform
for All: Critical Queries Influencing Strategies and Policy Options" (Roberto
Carneiro); "Arriving at a Minimum Educational Platform for All: The Political
Options and Strategies." What Sort of Compulsory Schooling? What Curriculum:
How To Achieve a Minimum Educational Platform for All" (Jordi Planas). The
report also includes an account of seminar discussions, a summary of seminar
conclusions on the minimum learning platform, a list of participants, and a
list of papers produced as part of the Newskills project.
(KC)
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
from the original document.
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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
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EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION
CENTER (ERIC)
This document has been reproduced as
received Irom the person or organization
originating it.
(3 Minor changes have been made to
Improve reproduction quality.
Points of view or opinions stated in this
document do not necessarily represent
official OER/ position or policy.
policy options
Towards a minimum
learning platform
Thessaloniki, 29-30 October 1998
PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND
DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS
BEEN GRANTED BY
RESTCOPYAVAILABLE'
TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)
1
AGORA - IV
The low-skilled on the European labour market:
prospects and policy options
Towards a minimum learning platform
Thessaloniki, 29-30 October 1998
Eric Fries Guggenheim
Project coordinator, CEDEFOP
Thessaloniki 1999
Published by:
CEDEFOP European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training
Europe 123, GR-57001 THESSALONIKI (Pylea)
Postal address:
PO Box 22427, GR-55102 THESSALONIKI
Tel. [phone]
Fax [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
Homepage: www.cedefop.gr
Interactive website: www.trainingvillage.gr
41
The Centre was established by Regulation (EEC) No 337/75 of the Council of the
European Communities, last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 251/95 of
6 February 1995 and Council Regulation (EC) No 354/95 of 20 February 1995.
A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet.
It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://europa.eu.int).
Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication.
Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2000
ISBN 92-828-8371-X
© European Communities, 2000
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
Printed in Belgium
Foreword
forum
In ancient Greek the word 'agora' means a marketplace, a place of assembly or a
where public affairs are discussed and the future of the city is built.
the field of
In Cedefop, the Thessaloniki Agora is such a forum, one that can be used in
Initial and continuing vocational training to build a bridge between people from different
backgrounds: researchers, practitioners, administrators and social partners. The aim is to
fund of
pool our thinking and thus achieve a measure of agreement. In this way a common
thought can be accumulated, on which consensus has been reached and which lends
but
itself to implementation without conflict. Our goal is not necessarily to move fast or far,
to bring together our ways of looking at things.
differing
is important that the Agora should be a place for comparison of initially
It
viewpoints, so that we can then arrive at a genuine convergence of positions, even though
progress with work may seem slow.
published in
Three Agoras have been organised so far, and reports on them have been
the Cedefop Panorama series:
The rise in the standard of diplomas and its effects on the labour market (30 June
I -
1997).
II - The role of the enterprise in lifelong training (17-18 November 1997).
III - Training-linked labour mobility (2 February 1998).
low-skilled
The latest in the series, Agora IV, was held on 29 and 30 October 1998 on 'the
policy options'. This publication sets out its
on the European labour market: prospects and
starting points for
content. It includes the texts of the presentations that served as the
well as
discussions, revised by their authors to incorporate the findings of the Agora, as
summaries of the content of the discussions themselves.
1
Agenda of the meeting
Thursday, 29 October
Welcome and introduction: Johan van Rens, Director, Cedefop
9.30
Presentation of the Newskills project: 'New job skill needs and the unskilled'
9.00
(IUI) Stockholm, and
Eugenia Kazamaki Ottersten, The Industrial
Institute
Newskills project
SESSION ONE: NEW JOB SKILL NEEDS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY - PROSPECTS
FOR THE LOW-SKILLED
Round table of the social partners on 'New job skill needs for the 21st century -
10.15
prospects for the low-skilled'.
Alfons De Vadder, Director-General of Federation beige des entreprises de
distribution
IG Metal, Frankfurt
Eva Kuda,
Deputy Director, Centre d'etudes et de recherches sur les
Philippe Mehaut,
qualifications (CEREQ), and Newskills project
Coffee break
11.00
General discussion
11.30
Presentation of the Newskills project - 'How the "minimum platform" is defined
12.30
across the EU', Hilary Steedman, Centre for Economic Performance, London
School of Economics, and Newskills project
Lunch
13.00
SESSION TWO: TOWARDS A DEFINITON OF A MINIMUM LEARNING PLATFORM
FOR ALL
Presentation and commentary: 'The concept of a minimum learning platform',
15.00
Arthur Schneeberger, Institut fur Bildungsforschung der Wirtschaft, Vienna
3
Round table of social partners on 'Defining a minimum learning platform'
15.30
Department for Education and Employment, London
David Forrester,
Heikki Suomalainen,
Confederation of Finnish Industry and Employers - TT
Jose F. Assis Pacheco, UGT - Uniao General de Trabalhadores, Lisbon
Coffee break
16.00
General discussion
16.15
needs for the 21st century
Presentation and commentary: 'New job
17.15
skill
-
prospects for the low-skilled' - Gunnar Eliasson, Royal Institute of Technology,
Stockholm
End of meeting
17.50
Welcome drink
18.00
Friday, 30 October
SESSION THREE: ACHIEVING A MINIMUM LEARNING PLATFORM FOR ALL
Presentation on 'Strategies and policy options', Roberto Cameiro, Catholic
9.00
University of Portugal and Newskills project
Presentation and commentary on 'Strategies and policy options', Jordi Planas,
9.30
Institute of Education Science, Barcelona
Round table of social partners - 'Strategies and policy options for achieving a
10.00
minimum learning platform'
Patricia O'Donovan, ICTU
Irish Congress of Trade Unions
Danish Employers' Confederation
Lise Skanting,
European Commission - DG XXII
Eleni Spachis,
Coffee break
10.45
General discussion
11.15
Summary - Eugenia Kazamaki Ottersten
12.15
Closing remarks - Cedefop
End of meeting
12.45
4
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1
FOREWORD
3
AGENDA OF THE MEETING
7
INTRODUCTION
1.
13
SUMMARY PAPER
2.
NEW JOB SKILL NEEDS AND THE LOW-SKILLED: A SUMMARY
3.
19
EUGENIA KAZAMAKI OTTERSTEN
20
3.1. Findings
20
Overall characteristics
3.1.1.
22
Demand side results
3.1.2.
22
Supply side results
3.1.3.
23
Defining a minimum learning platform
3.1.4.
23
3.2. Concluding remark
DEVELOPMENTS IN INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY AND PRODUCTION -
4.
OF ON-THE-
COMPETENCE REQUIREMENTS AND THE PLATFORM THEORY
JOB LEARNING
25
GUNNAR ELIASSON
25
4.1. What is competence for the job?
26
4.2. The experimentally organised economy
27
4.3. The platform theory of cumulative learning
27
structural change
4.4. What is happening in production? - A typology of
29
4.5. The new emerging industries
29
New, entering production
4.5.1.
29
exit)
Mature, and potential crisis production (reorganisation, rationalisation or
4.5.2.
31
4.6. Concluding remarks
THE IDEA OF A MINIMUM LEARNING PLATFORM?
5.
33
HILARY STEEDMAN
EDUCATIONAL
THE CONCEPT OF A MINIMUM LEARNING PLATFORM
6.
CONTENTS AND METHODS FOR IMPROVING THE LOW-SKILLED
39
ARTHUR SCHNEEBERGER
CRITICAL QUERIES
ACHIEVING A MINIMUM LEARNING PLATFORM FOR ALL -
7.
INFLUENCING STRATEGIES AND POLICY OPTIONS
47
ROBERTO CARNEIRO
47
7.1. Discerning the different target groups
48
Table 1 A simple typology of target groups
5
7.2. Focusing education on what is really important
48
7.3. One same human person
different human developments
49
7.4. A profile of European values
51
Table 2 - On development and learning: 4+4 pillars
52
7.5. Learning throughout life and the way to inclusive knowledge
53
Table 3 - The way to inclusive knowledge
53
7.6. A new social contract for Europe
56
ARRIVING AT A MINIMUM EDUCATIONAL PLATFORM FOR ALL: THE
8.
POLITICAL OPTIONS AND STRATEGIES. WHAT SORT OF COMPULSORY
SCHOOLING? WHAT CURRICULUM? HOW TO ACHIEVE A MINIMUM
EDUCATIONAL PLATFORM FOR ALL
JORDI PLANAS
59
8.1. The reference framework: the effects of policies on education, training
and vocational integration conducted in Europe over the past 20 to 30
years on standards of education and training
59
8.2. What can be done in education: obligations of presence and success
61
ACCOUNT OF SEMINAR DISCUSSIONS
9.
65
9.1. New skill needs, and the problems facing the low-skilled
65
The changing nature of jobs
9.1.1.
65
The new skills
9.1.2.
65
Over-education
9.1.3.
66
9.2. What can be done to improve the position of the low-skilled?
67
9.3. The minimum learning platform
68
Content of the platform
9.3.1.
68
The processes involved
9.3.2.
68
A single platform in Europe?
9.3.3.
69
The cost of the platform
9.3.4.
69
How to certify competencies
9.3.5.
70
9.4. The delivery of the minimum learning platform
70
Education as an end in itself
9.4.1.
70
The type of training to be offered
9.4.2.
70
The delivery of training
9.4.3.
71
Socioeconomic considerations
9.4.4.
72
10. SUMMARY OF SEMINAR CONCLUSIONS ON THE MINIMUM LEARNING
PLATFORM
73
11. LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
75
12. PAPERS PRODUCED AS PART OF THE NEWSKILLS PROJECT
77
6
Introduction
1.
Following a lengthy period of great stability, since the mid-1970s the labour market has
been in a continuous process of evolution. Human beings, for their part, evolve slowly and
laboriously, and this creates a gap between what the market demands of its workforce and
what that workforce can offer.
The low-skilled have always been with us. What has not always been with us is the
problem they raise. This arises partly from the form and structure of the labour market -
the scarcity of employment - and partly from the very essence of the production process
- the changing demands for skills.
The scarcity of employment: technical progress and rising productivity have helped to
do away with some of the hard and unrewarding work that has traditionally been the lot of
the low-skilled. At a time of a sharp rise in the active population, the labour markets of the
European countries have found it very hard to accommodate new arrivals. As a result,
young people have, often reluctantly, had to continue their training or studies because
they have been unable to find jobs, or have not known how, or because they hoped that
by improving their level of training they would increase their subsequent chances of finding
work.
In the 1950s and 1960s, there was a shortage of labour on the market, creating difficulties
for employers. With the pressure for steady growth, they agreed to take over responsibility
for the transition from school to the labour market, including the transition of the least
skilled. In some cases they looked beyond national borders for the labour they could not
find on the domestic market.
In the 1970s, things changed. The labour market was awash with labour, and queues
formed for jobs. It was only logical that it was the best trained, the most adaptable, the
people who cost least to take on who were accepted first. In this situation, the low-skilled -
who up to then had acquired their skills within the workplace - lost their main route to
competence and qualifications. The low-skilled jobs that were formerly their natural
preserve were increasingly used as the first jobs for people with considerably higher skills.
The new demands for skills: the nature of the skills required has changed. Physical
strength and stamina, technical ability, are now secondary qualities when what is needed
is to operate increasingly complex and automated production processes, at a time when
the production of services is steadily gaining ground over the production of goods.
Shrewdness, an analytical and critical mind, adaptability, open-mindedness, a desire to
learn - in other words, cognitive skills and skills in human relations - have become
essential. To a growing extent, what is sought in the workforce today is personal
involvement, the application of inventiveness, intelligence and energy, dynamism and
motivation.
7
10